KUKA Controls Integrates VxWin with RTI's Open-Architecture Network Data Delivery Service

SANTA CLARA, CA and AUGSBURG, GERMANY-August 1, 2005-KUKA Controls, a leading developer of real-time operating system (OS) solutions for Windows XP, announced today the successful integration of VxWin with Real-Time Innovations’ (RTI’s) open-architecture Network Data Distribution Service (NDDS). Out-of-the-box integration enables developers to take full advantage of VxWin with NDDS without having to make modifications or configuration changes to either system.

KUKA Controls’ VxWin enables Wind River VxWorks and Microsoft Windows XP Embedded to run on the same host processor with no real-time performance penalties or modifications to either OS.

RTI’s NDDS is an open-architecture real-time networking platform that supports the Object Management Group’s (OMG’s) Data Distribution Service (DDS) V1.0 standard. NDDS allows networked applications to effortlessly connect with multiple data sources for communication of real-time data via an easy-to-use API. The technology is well proven and provides deterministic data delivery over standard IP networks while offering services for monitoring and control. RTI supports both Wind River VxWorks and Microsoft Windows on the x86 architecture.

VxWin provides a standard x86 VxWorks platform running alongside Microsoft Windows. VxWorks runs in a hardware-protected area of memory and its operation cannot be affected by any Windows event, thus ensuring failsafe real-time operation. NDDS runs unaltered on a VxWin system and communicates over the VxWin shared memory UDP/IP network using its Publish/Subscribe DDS. No external network interfaces are required.

KUKA Controls’ real-time software extensions have applications in the aerospace, automation, defense, medical, and test and measurement markets. The company is a Microsoft Gold Level Windows Embedded Partner (WEP) and a Wind River Platform Partner. These long-term relationships promote smooth integration of the latest OS updates and assure customers of the necessary long-term platform stability. KUKA Controls also certifies third-party hardware compatibility to simplify development of new real-time applications.

About KUKA Controls GmbH
KUKA Controls GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of KUKA Roboter GmbH, the number one European industrial robot manufacturer and a part of IWKA AG Group. KUKA Controls specializes in real-time software, OSes, motion control, graphical user interfaces (GUI), handhelds, dynamic algorithms, PC-based hardware development and application programming. KUKA Controls globally markets real-time extension technology for automation and robotics as well as test and measurement instrumentation, medical devices and equipment. KUKA robot controllers are developed and produced for the parent company.

About KUKA Roboter GmbH
KUKA Roboter GmbH, Augsburg is an IWKA Group company and is the world’s leading manufacturer of PC-based industrial robots. The company’s core competencies are the development, production and sales of industrial robots, controllers, software and linear units. KUKA is the market leader in both Germany and Europe and ranks 3rd worldwide. The KUKA Robot Group employs 1,650 people and is represented by over 20 subsidiaries in Europe, USA and Asia. In 2003, company sales were $420 million Euro.

About RTI
Real-Time Innovations, Inc. (RTI, www.rti.com) the expert in real-time information networking, leads the industry with high performance standards-based software solutions for data-critical applications. Its products and consulting services provide the infrastructure for national railways, air traffic control, traffic monitoring, mission-critical combat systems, financial transaction processing and industrial automation. RTI's flagship product, NDDS, is middleware based on the Object Management Group's (OMG) Data Distribution Service (DDS). NDDS provides the essential foundation for real-time communication in a networked system and enables a new class of embedded to enterprise (e2E) applications. Raytheon, Nikon, Omron, Harmonic, Applied Materials, Schneider Automation, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and the US Military rely on RTI technology for their real-time, data-centric, distributed applications. Headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley since 1991, RTI is a privately held company.

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Additional Information About NDDS – Setting the Standard
RTI’s NDDS is the first commercially available publish-subscribe software that runs on a variety of transports to provide fast, efficient data distribution. The DDS specification standardizes the software application programming interface (API) and underlying communications model a developer can use to create distributed applications. This commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) implementation supports dynamic system scalability with a high-degree of fault tolerance while reducing schedule risks, initial development expenses and total cost of system ownership. NDDS also provides flexibility in terms of platforms, languages and transport mechanisms.

NDDS eliminates network programming and simplifies the development of applications that must share large amounts of data in real-time. Applications simply declare that they are publishing or subscribing to a topic. NDDS provides a pluggable transport framework that supports the industry-standard UDP/IP protocol, emerging high-speed interconnects such as StarFabric and local Shared Memory. New transports can be easily supported and used without modifications to the application logic.

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RTI, Real-Time Innovations, NDDS and e2E are service marks, registered trademarks or trademarks of Real-Time Innovations, Inc. All other trademarks used in this document are the property of their respective owners.